Forever
by Asukai Haruka
Summary: Vi has proven to the world where her loyalties lie, leaving Caitlyn broken-hearted in her wake. Patience was a virtue everyone knew the Sheriff had, but truly, how long could she wait? "Next time we meet, Cupcake, it'll be forever." One-shot, Piltover's Finest, Caitlyn x Vi. Warning: Character death.


**A/N: The League of Legends Facebook page I liked posted this picture of Caitlyn lighting a cigarette for a bloodied Vi with the caption "One for the Road" a while ago, and that got me thinking. And, as you should know, me thinking doesn't always lead to good places.**

**The "Angst" tag and the phrase "Character death" in the summary should have served as warning enough.**

**I hope this will be a good read.**

**Haruka**

_Next time we meet, Cupcake, it'll be forever._

Those words echoed in Caitlyn's head as she walked numbly toward the desk that awaited her, piled high with the weeks of paperwork she had ignored, paperwork her men couldn't quite tell head or tail of. She couldn't run away from it anymore, life went on, and she had to pick herself up. Her city needed looking after, the gangs had gotten cocky following _that_ day, and the people were suffering. They needed her now more than ever, but Caitlyn realized she couldn't find herself anymore. The soul inhabiting her body… it wasn't the same old Caitlyn. It would never be her again. On the outside, everything looked similar, though worse for wear, but on the inside, everything had been destroyed, wrecked, turned upside down.

Stopping by the mirror, the Sheriff of Piltover was shocked to see what was reflected back at her: a young, emaciated woman with hollow, reddened eyes, bags having collected under them due to countless sleepless nights… She looked horrible, on the verge of death (or a dead creature on the verge of life); no wonder her parents and co-workers were against her coming back to work. _You should just retire,_ her mother had pleaded, _it isn't safe, sweetie, it could be you next…_

Well, what if she _wanted_ it to be her next?

"Hey, Sheriff…" the new Enforcer rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as she fidgeted, unsure if disturbing the traumatized, broken Sheriff was the right thing to do but determined to follow orders, "The Council's impatient. They want the paperwork on… _that_ day on their desks by tonight so they can understand what happened."

Caitlyn didn't, couldn't, say a word, but if she could, they would not be any befitting someone of her class and breeding. In her head, the vilest of profanities swirled, street language her mother would wash her mouth out with soap for using. How could the Council demand anything else from her? Hadn't she already given them her world, her life? Everything… everything was gone…

Oh, what she wouldn't give to hear that obnoxious laugh again, to stay up past midnight working through paperwork on the sheer amount of destroyed property her missions had incurred, to have that husky voice call her "Cupcake", to chuckle at her lame jokes and scold her for stealing her hat... How strange, she had once thought of those things as annoying, but now, she would give every limb she had for just one last chance to experience them. _That's what humans are like; we never realize that we need something until we lose it._

"S-Sheriff…?" at the sound of the new Enforcer's voice, an unimaginable amount of fury filled her, made her want to scream. _Who are you to try take her place?! Who are you to stand here bearing her title, as if she could be replaced so easily?!_ The brunette sunk into her chair, head in her trembling hands, watching helplessly as bitterness bled from the crumbled pieces of her broken heart. _All of you… why are all of you still here when she's not? Why do you have the right to live when she doesn't? Why? Why?!_

The Sheriff was living in a nightmare so terrifying even Nocturne would turn tail and flee immediately. She had absolutely nothing left, she was hollow and broken, and the world had never looked so foreboding. All she had in her chest was anger, regret, sorrow, despair, agony, hatred… Her world had fractured, the colors bleeding out until only black and white remained, all meaning having melted away in the wind that slashed at her ears on the day of her funeral.

Caitlyn had been flooded by condolences from the public, the government, the Institute of War, the other champions in the League, her parents… only her men had yet to say a word to her, guilty as they were. They had never had any faith in their old Enforcer, thinking she had some sort of ulterior motive for helping the cops, and had constantly criticized Caitlyn for letting such an unreliable troublemaker in. They were blind to all the good the pink haired bruiser had done, prejudiced against her due to her dodgy background, and mumbled amongst each other that the day would come when she would show her true colors.

It did, and she had.

Not in the way they had expected, of course. They thought the bruiser would leave them, maybe kill a couple of them while she was at it, and go back to the gang that raised her since she was six years old. After all, they were the closest thing to family the Enforcer had, surely she would have some sort of loyalty or affection toward them. She was probably spying on them, keeping an eye on the Sheriff for her buddies.

They could not have been any further from the truth.

_That_ day, they were called in to attempt to intercept Vi's old gang mates, who were escaping after a successful bank robbery. Instead of trying to run and waiting for the bruiser to smash them into the ground like she always did, they set up an elaborate trap with countless snipers and gunmen, determined to get away this time. Soon, the police were cowering under heavy fire, unable to do a thing. The sky was gloomy, overcast, rumbles of thunder a warning of the incoming storm.

_That _day, as always, the brunette came up with a plan, and the Enforcer had no choice but to follow it. The fire was too heavy for her _Blast Shield_ to fend off, she had to count on the Sheriff to do a little sniping first, take out a couple of the bad guys to ease the load. It was everything the platoon could do to hold their ground, and they couldn't afford to let anyone else go. The brunette was going to do it alone, and when the fire had eased, the Enforcer would rush right in and do her usual magnificent job of cleaning up (destroying things). Vi had tossed a fire hydrant at the enemy to distract them for a bit, giving Caitlyn time to get into position a sizable distance away in order to begin dropping the baddies unseen.

_That_ day, things didn't really go their way, as the gang managed to trace the bullets back to the brunette quite quickly, and she was way too out of position to expect any effective help from her men. Keeping her men occupied with continuous fire, they had a single sniper aim for the Sheriff crouched on slightly higher ground, unaware of what was coming her way.

_That_ day, when the bullet came speeding for Caitlyn, unavoidable, Vi had used her _Vault Breaker_ to dash in front of her, eyes wild as she screamed her name with a _desperation_ no one ever knew Vi could feel. The bullet that was meant for the Sheriff's skull went through the Enforcer's chest, grazing her heart and severely damaging a number of important arteries. It was a wonder that she didn't fall immediately like any normal person would have, but then, Vi never did normal.

_That _day, Vi had looked up at her over her shoulder, a trail of blood dripping from her lips, and told her with a gentle smile, _You're not bulletproof, Cupcake._ _You gotta watch out, I won't be here to save you all the time._

_That_ day, spitting out blood, she had forged ahead despite her injury, putting all her remaining strength into two blasts of _Excessive Force_ that ripped through the enemy ranks, offering them a brief respite. The officers rushed in immediately, disarming the gunmen as quickly as they could, sustaining a number of injuries themselves. Ultimately, the victory was theirs, and the apprehended gang members were shuttled into squad cars unarmed and cuffed behind the back, Caitlyn rushing straight to her Enforcer's side.

_That _day, the bruiser was obviously struggling to breathe in her final moments, and when Caitlyn begged her to stay, to fight, to be alright, ordering her not to die, basically blabbering in her fear and desperation, Vi had rasped, _I do things my way, Cait._ It was just like her to try joke even in the face of death…

_That_ day, Vi acknowledged that it would be her last. Coughing up blood, the bruiser raised a hand to signal the paramedics around her to back off, informing them, _I know when I'm done, guys._ Biting their lips, the paramedics decide to honor what would be her final request, leaving the two as alone as they could be in the middle of a battlefield. Caitlyn wanted to call them back, to beg them as if they were gods to save her Enforcer, but the loud cry of thunder swallowed up her shaky, useless plea. She was crying, _sobbing_, and Vi kept a gentle hand on her cheek, tenderly brushing away the endless waterfall of tears.

_That_ day, as the light in her eyes faded, Vi breathed her last words into Caitlyn's ear, too soft for anyone else to hear, _Next time we meet, Cupcake, it'll be forever._ With that, her chest rose and fell one last time, her final breath escaping her in what seemed like a dejected sigh; as if the pink haired bruiser hadn't been satisfied with the time she had been given upon this world. Still, a smile tugged at the edges of her bloodstained lips as her soul left her wounded body; maybe she felt that things didn't turn out too bad regardless.

_That _day, the brunette threw her head back and wailed as the clouds finally broke, cold rain piercing her skin as the sky, too, mourned with her as she held what remained of her entire world, now lost to her.

_That_ day, on the street between the bank and the college, Piltover's Enforcer fell, dragging her superior into a nightmare realm where nothing would ever be okay again.

She was crying, her shoulders trembling with the intensity of it, and the worried new Enforcer stood like a statue in the corner, wondering if she should fetch help, offer a shoulder or simply leave her Sheriff alone. _I have so many things I want to say to you, Vi, if only I could get the chance to…_ She shouldn't have taken the pink haired bruiser for granted, she should have known that what life gave with one hand, it could easily take away with the other. She should have spoken to her more, comforted her, pep-talked her; she should have told her that the real Vi hiding beneath that badass exterior was actually pretty cute, she should have told her she really didn't need to change, that she was perfect the way she was despite what all the others said, she should have told her…

She should have told her she loved her.

Afraid of being judged, laughed at, rejected, Caitlyn had held back on telling Vi her true feelings, until it was all too late. If only she could turn back time, she would have shaken her slightly younger self and screamed at her to take the chance, to say it before the one she wanted to say it to disappeared from her life. Scratch that – if she could turn back time, Caitlyn would have made some other plan, waited for more backup, anything that would not involve Vi taking a bullet, anything that would have saved her life. But she couldn't, and that was the undeniable truth she had to live with.

Vi was gone, Vi was gone, Vi was gone… She had to accept that, but how could she? She had to move forward, but how could she? It was too much to ask for, she just wasn't that strong. She was Vi's Cupcake, and now that the bruiser was gone, she had no idea who to be anymore. Would someone still like and respect her for her, the real Caitlyn, unmasked and honest, the way Vi had? The Enforcer had been her universe, her Sun and her Moon, the earth beneath her feet and the sky above her head. She was lost on a strange planet, stranded and alone…

Walking over to her desk, Caitlyn quietly picked up her sniper rifle, running a finger over the trigger as she checked it over mentally: loaded, though not fully, but she would only need one shot for what she had in mind. Sure, it was not a close range weapon, but it would do the trick.

"S-Sheriff…?" the new Enforcer's voice trembled, as if she had guessed what her superior wanted to do, "Are you alright?"

"Go," she ordered, not taking her eyes off the gun for even a moment. Biting her lip, the new Enforcer was uncertain, reluctant, lingering nervously while trying to form some sort of coherent sentence. Annoyed, Caitlyn barked, "Out!"

At once, the new Enforcer scampered out the door, almost yelping like a kicked puppy. Soon, she would have a new master, a new Sheriff, and there would be a brand new Piltover's Finest, for Caitlyn refused to live in a world without Vi in it.

Alone at last, the brunette raised the rifle, pressing the barrel to the side of her head.

_Next time we meet, Cupcake, it'll be forever._

Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger.

_Is it forever now?_

**A/N: Please leave a review if you have any thoughts on this story! Thanks in advance!  
**

**Haruka**


End file.
